Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

The results are in! The winner of our poll - and the book we will discuss on March 4th, 2026 - is Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt. We used STAR Voting again this month, and thirty-two members voted in the poll. Of our four book choices, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler and Remarkably Bright Creatures received the most stars in the scoring round and advanced to the runoff round. In the runoff round, Three people ranked the finalists equally, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler received eleven votes, and Remarkably Bright Creatures received eighteen votes. Thank you to everyone who voted!

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"The best books about grief find a way to illuminate the darkness of loss, and Remarkably Bright Creatures offers a masterclass." -- Marie Claire

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF SUMMER by: Chicago Tribune * The View * Southern Living * USA Today

After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.

Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

“Remarkably Bright Creatures is the rarest of feats: a book that manages to be wry and wise, charming and surprising, and features one of the most intriguing and satisfying characters I’ve encountered in fiction in a very long time—Marcellus the Octopus. I don’t know how Shelby Van Pelt managed to make this uncommon tale sing so beautifully, but sing it does, and I defy you to put it down once you’ve started.” -- Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, author of Good Company and The Nest

"Poet and short story writer Van Pelt has written an irresistibly wonderful, warm, funny, heartbreaking first novel, full of gentle people (and one octopus) bravely powering through their individual scars left by lives that have beaten them up but have not brought them down." --Beth E. Andersen, Library Journal

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Available in local libraries:

• Mercer County Library System
• Princeton Library
• Somerset County Library System
• STELLA

If you have any trouble signing up, please comment on the event, message Chris or Gary, or email one.drink.minimum.book@gmail.com, and we’ll be happy to add you.